This invention relates to vehicle license plate holders, and more particularly to such holders that are provided with a plurality of LED lights around their perimeters.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,857,890 issued Aug. 15, 1989 to Solow teaches a safety rear license plate holder that has a string of lights disposed around the perimeter. These lights are connected to full vehicle electric voltage when the brake lights are energized. When the running lights are on, these same perimeter lights are energized from the vehicle voltage through a dropping resistor so as to emit less light. This indicates to a following vehicle when the brakes are being applied. It may not be very evident to the following vehicle that the brakes have been applied when the lights get brighter.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide an improved license plate holder of the invention that provides a plurality of red light emitting diodes (LEDs) disposed around the perimeter that light up only when the brakes are applied so as to be clearly seen. In addition, a lesser number of LEDs of a non-red color are also distributed about the perimeter for ornamentation. These non-red lights are connected so as to be illuminated when the running lights are on. A preferred color of these lights is blue. The LEDs have advantages in that these are longer lasting than filament bulbs, with a faster response time, when the brakes are applied.